Do you think that you should be on the TV show "House" and think, "hey, I need that doctor!" Well, this is the blog for you. Topics and links such as Fibromyalgia, PCOS, CFS, Autism, and various cancer's.

Meet The Contributors

Mandy ~ I am a stay at home mom who has been on a medical roller coaster ride going from doctor to doctor trying to figure out what is wrong with me. All of the doctors agreed that there is something medically wrong with me, they just don't know what... Basically, just about every time that I go to the doctor, I wind up with a new diagnosis. It is very frustrating. I hope that some of these links will maybe help you or lead you in the right direction.

Ferd ~ I have had the honor and pleasure of practicing Internal Medicine for over 25 years. I am now enjoying sharing my thoughts and experience in the blogosphere in a number of ways. I am grateful to Mandy for including me on her excellent blog, Texas Medical Freak!

Friday, February 8, 2008

I have posted before that every time that I go to the doctor, I get a new diagnosis. Well, earlier this week I went to the doctor to see about my fibroid issue. I was hoping that I would qualify for a fairly new procedure for fibroids called “Doppler Guided Uterine Artery Occlusion” I included an article about it from the Oxford Journals. Anyway, the doctor told me “I have good news and bad news,” that is never good. The good news was that my fibroids had not grown any in the past two years. The bad news was that I need to have a hysterectomy and re-constructive surgery. He said besides the fibroids and the cysts, I have Uterine Prolapse. And to think, I was worried about my boobs or my bum falling later in life. Years ago, I worked with a woman that had this and had a hysterectomy. But, she is the only person that I have ever known with it. It seems like that she was in her late 30’s? I am really starting to hate going to the doctor.

The “hysterectomy” itself doesn’t bother me as much as the surgery does. I don’t do pain well and there are not many pain killers that I can take either. When I had my thyroid out, it took the surgeon and the anistegeoligist to come up with something for me to take. It worked “ok” after the swelling went down before that the pain was unbearable. The swelling was due to my bruising problem, I bruise at the drop of the hat. I always have bruises and never know where they come from. The other thing that scares me is the numbness that goes along with surgery. When I had my thyroidectomy, it took just about a year before the feeling came back in my neck. Oh, and I can’t forget my fear of something else not working after surgery. I don’t do well with percentages, when I had my biopsy for my thyroid they told me “don’t worry, only 5% of these ever come back anything.” It came back follicular thyroid cancer. Then the doctor told me only 1-3% of people that have a thyroidectomy have their parathyroid quit working. See, I am not very good with percentages.

The past few days I have been looking for information on hysterectomies and now I am more confused than I was when I started. I have found a few good patient friendly pages. One is a personal blog called “One Girl, No Uterus” and Hyster Sisters, which is an online group. Let me tell you, it was much easier finding a surgeon for my thyroid. With hysterectomies there are so many options, it is starting to make my head spin. Laparoscopic (LSH), TLH, Laparoscopic-assisted (LAVH) and Total Abdominal (traditional). And those don’t even cover the “re-construction” part.

If anyone has any good links or information please post them here or if you would rather Email Me. I have a second opinion lined up and I hope that I will be able to put this off until this summer. When school is out and I will not have to drive anywhere.

My mom and best friend have had the laparoscopic and both did well. Neither of them have the special cocktail you need but my mom at 65, my best friend at 46, neither took pain meds after the first two days, only tylenol and that was for an additional two days. My understanding is that the holes they make are cake to heal as opposed to the other. I hope this helps you feel better about what is coming/your decision process. Debi

It's hard to know what to say. In 1999 I had fibroids so big I looked pregnant. I named the largest one George, I figured anything that big deserved a name.

Like you, I was told I need a hysterectomy, (this is usually the first thing a woman is told) but I refused to accept that diagnosis. I didn't want to lose my uterus only because my research told me that the uterus served many other purposes besides housing humans.

I kept seeing doctors until I found one who told me she could remove the fibroids without removing the uterus and then I had the surgery.

From the time of my initial diagnosis when the fibroid was so small that it took two doctors to determine it was there, until the time is was removed (even Helen Keller would have known it was there by then) was 12 years.

I suffered a slight prolapse after my surgery (that was fun)but I didn't have any reconstruction.

The only pain meds I took were motrin, and I had conventional surgery to remove the fibroids, not laparscopic.

I guess the main thing I'm trying to say is decide what YOU want, then find a like-minded surgeon. Don't be railroaded into anything.

Debi ~ I am going to talk to several doctors and see what each of them say before I make any decisions. It is great that they have different ways to do this these days but, I almost wish that there was only one way. It would make the decision a lot easier.

Menopauseprincess ~ I don't mind loosing my uterus as much as I mind the surgery (of any kind). I think that the two biggest reasons for this is my experience with my thyroid surgery (massive bruising from all of the bleeding) and my crazy allergies to most pain medications (I can't take the "standard issue ones" that most doctors like to use. I have a second opinion set up for the beginning of March and found someone that I think I will use as a third opinion. Thanks for your support =)

Hey Chickie - That really bites! I'm sorry about the news. Brusing - yea simply bump up against me sometimes and I bruise!

The surgery. I heard what you said to MP about being ok loosing the parts. But think about what she said. I think my finding a doctor who can focus on only removing the fibroid is probably better than a doctor who is too lazy and needs to remove extra parts.

Chat over various options with the other doctors. See what they think.

Of course only you can decide what is right for you. But I think less removal better ... With the way we are made we need all the extra parts we have! hehehehe

RJ ~ Thanks =) I have an appointment with a new doctor and I think that I may have found another one after that. I am not going to jump into anything. LOL, yes we do need extra parts. I know that I could use quite a few. And yes, thank you for your unsolicited opinion :D ~ Mandy

From the website I just sent you: Recommendation. Hysterectomy is clearly warranted to treat uterine cancer, extremely large fibroids, or severe endometriosis. In other cases, expect simpler, less-invasive treatment. If hysterectomy is warranted, don’t agree to removal of the ovaries unless they’re diseased or there’s a high risk of ovarian cancer. And ask about having the hysterectomy via a “supracervical”or vaginal approach: Both methods avoid the need for a larger, abdominal incision, and the supracervical route preserves the cervix. Debi